'A mystical experience': millions watch total solar eclipse sweep across North America
Source: the Guardian
Almost 32 million people in the path of totality as moon’s shadow crossed the Mexico-Texas border and then traversed 15 states
Richard Luscombe
Mon 8 Apr 2024 17.38 EDT
The ethereal spectacle of a total solar eclipse swept across North America on Monday afternoon, giving tens millions of people in Mexico, the US and Canada the chance to witness a rare and dazzling celestial show.
Almost 32 million people were in the path of totality as the moon’s shadow crossed the Mexico-Texas border at lunchtime and traversed 15 states over the next hour and a half, although many, especially in the south and midwest, were denied a clear view by low clouds and rain.
Those who did get to experience it were treated to a remarkable and surprisingly emotional display that won’t be seen again in the US until 2044. Cities were plunged into sudden darkness, chilled by a precipitous drop in temperature, and felt the stillness of twilight in the middle of the day.
“There’s something very mysterious about a total solar eclipse, when literally day turns to night, animals start to behave differently, and we see changes in the Earth’s atmosphere,” Pam Melroy, the deputy head of Nasa, and a retired astronaut who has degrees in astronomy and planetary sciences, told CNN.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/apr/08/total-solar-eclipse-path-map
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